 |
Of great concern is the
rate at which deforestation is occurring. Currently, 12 million
hectares of forests are cleared annually - an area 1,3 times the
size of KwaZulu/Natal! Almost all of this deforestation occurs in
the moist forests and open woodlands of the tropics. At this rate
all moist tropical forest could be lost by the year 2050, except
for isolated areas in Amazonia, the Zaire basin, as well as a few
protected areas within reserves and parks. Some countries such as
Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Costa Rica, and Sri Lanka are likely to lose
all their tropical forests by the year 2010 if no conservation steps
are taken. |
Shown in Figure 1
is a certain graph which compares the forests in the Philippines
before and now. |
 |
Figure 1: The
forests of the Philippines |
Figure 2, shows the
annual deforestation rates by country starting from 1980 to 1990. |
 |
Figure 2: Annual
deforestation rate by country |
Figure 3, shows us
the numerical value of the deforested area in some countries. |
 |
Figure 3: Number
of Deforested areas. |
 |
An
area of forest equal to 20 football or rugby fields is lost every
minute.
|
Copyright©2005.
All Rights Reserved. Forest Watch